


'Cause You're A Dream To Me

by strangeasangels



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Werewolves, Canon Divergence, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-28
Updated: 2015-02-28
Packaged: 2018-03-15 13:47:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3449399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangeasangels/pseuds/strangeasangels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dating is never easy. Blind dating seems even worse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	'Cause You're A Dream To Me

**Author's Note:**

> Let it be known that I'm completely incapable of writing anything that isn't rife with vague references to 90s/00s romcoms. 
> 
> This is a gift for the emilson! It doesn't fit the blind date prompt /exactly but it's pretty close, I hope you like it!!
> 
> Thank you to Alex, Kat, and Margaret for being my Betas!

“Waiting for someone?”

Derek sighs; this is the 5th time someone has come up to him with the same line in the past 30 minutes.

The trouble with going to a bar by yourself is that even if you give out vibes that say “get the hell away from me,” people will still try and break down your barrier. His sister always said that he had a face that seemed to attract people like moths to a flame but it was paired with the personality of a bug zapper. She didn’t know anything, though.

After he finally tells the overly pushy girl that, yes, in fact, he IS waiting for someone (he isn’t), Derek focuses back on the game playing on the multiple screens above the bar. He doesn’t really care about what’s going on but he needs to shake off some nerves about the blind date he has in an hour. Derek sips his beer as one of the teams scores a touchdown but is startled by the guy next to him slamming his fists down on the bar before exclaiming “Oh, come on!” a bit angrily.

“Invested?” Derek asks. This guy is the only person in the bar that has kept to himself so far, so Derek decides that he seems pretty alright.

“Not really,” Cute Football Guy says. “I don’t even care about football, but I bet my best friend that the Raiders would upset the ‘Hawks so I’m really hoping I’m not out 50 bucks.”

Derek smiles. “Wow, tough bet.”

CFG hangs his head a little in mock shame, “Well, you don’t know what my best friend is like when he’s being really obnoxious! Plus, Oakland’s only down by 6, we could totally still make a comeback.”

“With two minutes of playtime and Seattle with possession?”

“It could happen!!”

They both settle into a comfortable silence as they watch Oakland try and ultimately fail to one up Seattle in the last seconds. Next to Derek, Sad And Cute Football Guy rests his head on the bar in defeat. “He’s going to be insufferable. And with 50 extra dollars.”

Derek doesn’t think before he pats CFG on the back. “Sorry man, I know how you’re feeling.” 

There’s mumbling coming from CFG’s mouth and he slowly lifts his head up from the bar and looks at Derek. “Want to buy me some frozen yogurt from next door to make it up to me?”  
Derek has to admit he’s a bit startled by that. It’s not like they had talked a lot, but something inside him wants to go. That doesn’t matter much because Derek has a date; a date that his friends are counting on him going to.

“Sorry, I’m- uh, I’m meeting someone for dinner in about 30 minutes.”

“So am I. Don’t tell me you’ve never had dessert before your meal? It’s the best way to eat!”

“Obviously I have,” Derek scoffs, “back when I was five.”

CFG laughs with his whole body, throwing his head back. “Well it’s time to relive your childhood. C’mon, I’ll even pay if you just pick up the one beer I had.”

“You’re on.”

With that, CFG smiles so wide and it makes something roll over and over in Derek’s stomach. He gathers his coat as Derek pays both tabs and waits by the door, bouncing a bit nervously from foot to foot.

“I’m Scott by the way.” 

Scott is a hell of a lot better than Cute Football Guy. Scott said he doesn’t even like football.

“Derek.”

They step outside, strangely in sync with each other. Derek finally takes in Scott during the short walk to the horribly named FroYo Mamma next door. He’s shorter than Derek but not any less built, possibly even more so. Scott’s waist is tiny, though, and of course this guy happens to fit the description of every guy from Derek’s wet dreams. He’s not going to let that distract him, though.

At least not too much.

“This place has the best birthday cake flavored froyo!” Scott says enthusiastically as Derek pulls a disgusted face. “What, you don’t like cake? What kind of heathen are you?”

“It’s just too sweet for me, I like to get the plain flavor and get the sweetness from the toppings.” Derek has probably had to explain this way too many times for a 32-year-old man.

“Your loss, dude. I don’t really understand people that wouldn’t want to have as much sugar as possible.” Scott is now filling his large froyo cup to the brim with some cake-flavored monstrosity. Derek doesn’t know how he’s going to be able to fit anything on top.

“You’d get along great with one of my best friends. She doesn’t know the meaning of sugar in moderation.” Derek fills up his medium cup modestly, plenty of room for the toppings.

Scott laughs a little bit before making his way over to the toppings station, completely bypassing the fruit section, which is always Derek’s favorite part. Maybe they aren’t as compatible as he thought. Scott begins scooping up every type of chocolate candy they have available as Derek picks through the containers for the best slices of strawberry and kiwi. As Derek debates whether to put in granola, Scott is pouring a generous amount of chocolate sauce on top.

“Derek.” Scott turns to him seriously, “If you don’t put one chocolate thing on your froyo I’m walking out of here.”

Hesitantly, Derek picks up the chocolate sauce and pours a little drizzle on top of the fruit, glad he decided against the granola this time.

After Scott pays like he promised, they sit down at one of the plastic tables that has seating that borders on being too mod to be functional. Scott stares intently at Derek before signaling for him to take a bite. Honestly, why the hell is he so self-conscious about Scott watching him right now? It absolutely is NOT making him a little bit red under the collar of his shirt.

Putting the spoon in his mouth, Derek can’t help but smile at how wide Scott’s eyes are with anticipation. “See!!” Scott yells a little too loudly for a quiet froyo shop, “I told you that chocolate would make everything better.”

“More like threatened to abandon me.” Scott laughs at that and starts to dig into his already melting mountain of chocolate. It’s alarming how fast Scott makes it through one layer of his dessert while Derek is only done with one neatly proportioned fourth of his cup.

“So, what brought you to The Donnelly?” Scott asks, talking about the bar from earlier.

“Well,” Derek doesn’t know how much he should say about the blind date thing because this also happens to feel like a date. “I actually live just one block over. I have a dinner thing later and I wanted to watch the game to blow off a little steam. I would have watched at home but my sister said that she was too invested in the _America’s Next Top Model_ marathon to give up the TV.”

Scott throws his head back for a quick laugh again and honestly, Derek really wishes that he’d stop doing that because his stomach is doing the whole flipping thing again and he’s not sure how he feels about it.

“Those marathons will suck you in. I cannot tell you how many of them my best friend and I have gotten caught up watching. I think we’ve seen every season twice.”

“What about you?” Derek asks, “Why were you at The Donnelly at 4:30 on a Thursday? I haven’t really seen you around before.”

Scott blushes and takes another huge bite of his froyo, seeming to forget that he’d just been asked a question. He tries to get through chewing as fast as he can and Derek can’t help but laugh at the effort.

“I [cough] I work nearby.” Scott may also have a brain freeze from the way his eyebrows are currently pinched together. “Actually, I volunteer nearby but I basically spend enough time there for it to be a job.”

“Oh, really? Where?”

“At the animal shelter over on 5th. I’m actually a veterinarian at a clinic a little further out but I’ve been volunteering at the shelter since high school and it’s definitely a hard habit to kick.”

A vet with a heart of gold and, to be honest, a great ass; how is Derek supposed to deal with this?

“Wow,” Derek says, in a bit of awe he can’t help, “That’s quite a gig you have set up for yourself. I don’t know how I can compare.”

“Trust me, it’s definitely not as glamorous as it sounds. What about you? What do you do when you’re not befriending sad bet-losers at a bar before 5 o’clock?”

This time Derek can’t help but laugh at that one, but he actually thinks this little encounter has been one of the best uses of his time as of late. “I’m a book editor. More specifically, I’m a California state history textbook editor. It’s just about as fun as it sounds, believe me. Which is why I also write historical fiction on the side.”

Derek knows by now that this makes him sound like kind of a nerd but at least he’s gotten better about not talking ad nauseam about one of the obscure civilizations that he wrote about in his dissertation. One of his current best friends started out as a date that got to hear a lengthy spiel about a particular group with cannibalistic habits, and she quickly trained Derek not to do that when he’s in date mode.

“Wow.” This time Scott sounds like he’s in awe. “That sounds fascinating. Maybe now that I’m actually a vet and not just in vet school, I’ll have time to pick up one of your books.”

Scott winks at Derek and, yeah, he’s really gotta stop doing stuff like that.

There’s something very unnerving about feeling the heat rise to your face. It’s like you know something embarrassing is going to show but there’s not an off switch to stop it. Derek rubs the back of his neck nervously, trying to will the red away. It probably just makes it worse.

“So,” Derek starts again, thinking probably too much time has passed since either of them talked, “you still never said why you were over here. Didn’t want to be stuck at home?”

“I’ve been told that this area is one of the best places to get something to eat in the city so I figured I’d stick around for dinner.”

Derek laughs because he’s definitely familiar with the food scene here. “To be honest with you, that’s one of the main reasons I moved over here. When I’m really wrapped up in work or writing I can forget to eat and there are some great late-night take out places close by. Some actually have nutritional value.”

“Only some? I figured that you only do nutritional value,” Scott teases, gesturing to the froyo in front of Derek.

“You’d be surprised how much take out I can put away after a long day of writing. It’s why I have to try and eat better under other circumstances.” It’s surprisingly easy to talk to Scott. He’s trusting and attentive and can tease you just enough without being mean and that’s just what Derek always complains is lacking in his other failed attempts at dating.

Not that this is a date.

Small talk isn’t Derek’s idea of fun. Usually it’s stilted and there are awkward pauses and questions left unanswered, but small talk is a whole new world with Scott. They talk about everything from their favorite shows (Scott loves _Parks and Recreation_ and Derek is overly invested in _Game of Thrones_ , but also really loves _Downton Abbey_ ) to which color M&M tastes better (Derek insists there’s no difference but Scott demands that it’s the brown ones).

They’re in the middle of arguing over which team from _Legends of the Hidden Temple_ was the best, froyo long gone, when Derek sees that he’s supposed to meet up with his blind date in 5 minutes.

“-and that’s why the Blue Barracudas were obviously the best team.” Scott finishes his rant and looks at Derek expectantly.

“Silver Snakes are still the best,” Derek teases again. “But unfortunately I’m going to be late for dinner.”

Scott hurriedly flips over his phone to check the time. “Shit. Me too.”

They both get up and throw away their empty containers and Derek sneaks a few bucks into the tip jar on the way out. When he finally meets up with Scott outside the door, he has his jacket on and it takes Derek aback.

There’s Scott, the unfairly cute guy that just happened to make him feel like dating for the first time in years, in a denim jacket with an American flag patch on the arm. It probably wouldn’t be noteworthy if it wasn’t for the fact that this is his clue.

Malia and Kira said he’d be a cutie in a denim jacket with the flag patch and that’s all they would tell him. They also gave him a note that he was supposed to give him that wasn’t addressed and he dare not read for fear of his family’s wrath.

Scott’s his blind date. Derek can’t explain how relieved he is.

Does he tell him right now? Should he wait? Scott’s staring at him, a little confused, and Derek has no idea how to even bring this up.

“Well, I’m that way,” Scott says, bringing up his arm to suggest he’s going left, the direction of the restaurant where they’re supposed to be meeting.

“Same here. Let’s walk together?” Derek guesses that he decided he’s not going to say anything just yet. “So, who’re you meeting at the restaurant? Your illustrious best friend that has terrible taste in everything?”

Scott laughs at that but goes a little red. “Actually, his girlfriend set me up on a blind date tonight. It’s not her thing at all, but I guess her close friend from college needed a guy to set up with her friend and thought I sounded just his type.”

“I’m sure you are.” Kira knows him too well because Scott is Derek’s type to a “t.”

“Thanks.” Scott blushes before stopping in front of the Thai place where they’re supposed to be eating. “Well this is my stop, apparently. Look, I know I’m about to go on a date but even so, I would love to get your number and maybe hang out again?”

Derek can’t help but smile at that. “Yeah, I’d really love that. But uh- I have something to give you first.”

He takes the mysterious note out of his wallet and finally passes it over to Scott. Scott looks confused but intrigued and he pulls a small sheet out of the envelope. Derek leans over a bit to see it only has two lines.

In a neat, utilitarian script it reads:

**This is Derek, your date for the night.**

Then below, in a slightly serial killer-esque font, it says:

_Have fun, be safe, and don’t stay out too late. I still have access to the GPS on your phone._

Scott finally looks up and Derek is happy to see that he’s smiling. He starts walking towards Derek slowly. “It’s you. You’re my date.”

“Looks like it. Sorry I didn’t say something sooner. I didn’t realize until I saw you in that jacket; it was my clue.”

“I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly.” 

Scott was suddenly very close.

“Wait, did you just quote _You’ve Got Mail_ to me?”

“God, Derek, shut up.” Scott finally surges forward the last bit and tips upwards to kiss him. It is short and electric, and the stomach flipping is back in full force but Derek doesn’t think he minds anymore.

“You know,” Scott says, still hovering close to his face. It’s unfairly distracting. “I always say that a bit of dessert goes really well with more dessert.”

Derek’s a little dumbfounded by what Scott’s saying, but he blames it on the lasting effects of the kiss. “What?”

“I’m saying that we should probably skip dinner. Didn’t you say that you lived nearby?”

Derek’s eyes go wide for a moment before he fumbles his phone out of his pocket. He can hear Scott snickering as he’s barely able to type out words, much less spell them correctly. Finally Derek gets his phone back into his jeans without waiting for a response.

“You know, I think that _America’s Next Top Model_ marathon is over by now.”

“Good.” Scott grabs his hand and smiles so brightly that Derek can feel electricity go all the way down his body.

His stomach flips again.

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on tumblr @ bellamybllke


End file.
